RpM International Inc.’s stock RPM slid 5% in premarket trade Thursday after the paint and building materials company’s below-consensus guidance offset a fiscal third-quarter earnings beat. Medina, Ohio-based RPM posted net income of $26.9 million, or 21 cents a share, for the quarter to Feb. 28, down from $33.0 million, or 25 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 37 cents, ahead of the 31 cent FactSet consensus. Sales rose 5.7% to $1.516 billion from $1.434 billion a year ago, also ahead of the $1.470 billion FactSet consensus. Sales were boosted by higher spending on infrastructure and reshoring projects, CEO Frank C. Sullivan said in a statement. by geography, sales were strongest in the U.S. and Latin America, up 8% and 7.3% respectively. They were weakest in Europe where they fell 3.6%. The company is now expecting fiscal fourth-quarter sales to be flat from a year ago and for adjusted EBIT to be flat to lower in a high single-digit range. The FactSet consensus is for EPS to be 3 cents higher than in the year-earlier quarter and for sales to rise 2%. The stock has gained 3% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 SPX has fallen 9%.
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